When Foster withdrew as chief sponsor, another Democrat who had signed on to the measure, Sen. Suzanne Williams of Aurora, took over. Williams today asked the Senate State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee to kill the measure.

“There seems to be quite a bit of misunderstanding about this bill,” she told the committee.

Sen. Suzanne Williams showed up today for the first day of the 2011 legislative session, giving no indication she would resign her seat despite pressure to step down in the face of questions about her actions in a fatal traffic accident.

Sen. Suzanne Williams, D-Aurora, speaks to the press on the first day of the 68th General Assembly (Denver Post - Joe Amon)

Asked if she would resign, Williams, D-Aurora, said, “I’m here. I am here.”

Multiple sources have told The Denver Post that Democratic leaders have tried to get Williams, 65, to quit following a Dec. 26 accident she caused that killed Brianna Gomez, 30, of Amarillo, Texas.

Doctors were able to deliver Gomez’s baby son. The accident critically injured Williams’ 41-year-old son, Todd Edward Williams, and injured her two grandchildren, who troopers said were lying down in the back of the car unbelted.

Williams has pushed seat belt and child-restraint legislation in the past.

In an initial report, Texas troopers found that Williams returned her 3-year-old grandson to his car seat after he was ejected from the vehicle.

Democrat Suzanne Williams expected to remain as chair of the Senate Transportation Committee despite her involvement in a fatal crash that killed a pregnant mother, according to an e-mail obtained by The Denver Post.

Williams sent the e-mail to the Democratic caucus members on Sunday, the day before Majority Leader John Morse announced he was removing her as chair.

From Williams:

The last two weeks since the accident have been extraordinarily difficult for me. I want to thank you for your prayers and support for the Gomez and Williams families during this time.

I look forward to going back to work as the Senator from South Aurora and the Senate Transportation Chair. Maintaining a high level of experience and much needed consistency is a priority for our Caucus.

The legislature convenes at 10 a.m. today. It will be Williams’ first public appearance since the crash.

Update:Senate Transportation Committee postpones a vote on the bill, but not before cutting out provisions allowing police to pull over unbuckled adults. The move, if finalized, means the state could miss out on $12 million in federal transportation funding.

Drivers who don’t buckle up could face traffic stops and higher fines under a bill that gets its first hearing this afternoon.

Traffic cops can ticket drivers for not wearing seat belts now, but only if they’re stopped for other offenses.

And Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, said the mantra from her rural constituents is “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.”

“They’re probably the ones who choose not to wear seat belts, and they don’t want me as their state senator telling them to do that,” Spence said. “I don’t try to impose rules and regulations on them that they don’t want. I respect their opinion.”

The bill would also allow police officers to pull over drivers who do not have their children property restrained in safety seats or seat belts.

Inspired by a Democratic bill to restrict high schools from using offensive characterizations of Native Americans for their mascots, House Minority Leader Mike May said today that it’s time another iconic image went away, too.

May, R-Parker, said he was proposing to ban high schools from using cougars as mascots, saying, “It is just not fair that these institutions carry on these offensive characterizations.

“Cougars are people, too.”

May said that under his plan, such mascots would have to be approved by the “Cougar Council,” a group “which meets every Saturday night at Elway’s in Cherry Creek.”

Some critics have ridiculed the bill to screen American Indian mascots, sponsored by Sen. Suzanne Williams, D-Aurora, as silly, politically correct legislation at a time when the legislature should be focusing on the state’s fiscal crisis. Williams has said the legislation was needed to deal with offensive racial caricatures that don’t respect tribal traditions.

“I would ask Rep. May, would he like his kids going to a school (with a mascot) called ‘the Savages?’ ” Williams asked in response to May’s mocking of her bill.

According to a statement from House Republicans, May “will work with Sen. Williams to amend her high school mascot bill but will run his own bill if he has to.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.